1. USE YOUR HEAD: CUT OFF THEIRS.2. THEY FEEL NO FEAR, WHY SHOULD YOU? 3. BLADES DON’T NEED RELOADING.4. KEEP MOVING, KEEP LOW, KEEP QUIET, KEEP ALERT!5. NO PLACE IS SAFE, ONLY SAFER.6. IDEAL PROTECTION = TIGHT CLOTHES, SHORT HAIR. 7. GET UP THE STAIRCASE, THEN DESTROY IT. 8. ORGANIZE BEFORE THEY RISE!9. GET OUT OF THE CAR, GET ONTO THE BIKE.10. ZOMBIE MAYBE GONE, BUT THE THREAT LIVES ON…

We are living in time of the zombie, culturally speaking. From TV shows like The WalkingDead to the up coming movies Warm Bodies and World War Z. Vampires used to be cool, now it’s zombies. So, what is behind this cultural explosion of the undead? I think on some level, it speaks to something deep within us. It’s not simply about horror; it’s about our cultural anxieties that play against our fear of the unknown and the monsters within us. People are comfortable and want the world to remain as it is. Professor Charles Fleming, while lecturing on the lifecycle of an organization once said, “we do not fear change, what we really fear is loss.”

In the same vein, the church in the West is experiencing great loss. Like the familiar motif in zombie stories, we are facing loss and must learn to survive in a new reality against monsters that closely resemble ourselves. The reign of the Western church’s dominance is over. We find ourselves in a new world and must learn to function under a new set of rules. Like zombies, there are still churches operating under the old paradigm and they are the walking dead. So to survive we must embrace change. There are many faces to the walking dead, but the ones that we will focus on here are namely traditions and biases. Each of these stalk us, seeking to feed on our souls, stifle hope, and kill the future. The church must learn to live and survive in this near reality.

In light of the above, to be transformational and missional in today’s globalized and post-Christian world, the church must begin by rethinking leadership in terms of ethnic diversity, hierarchy and spirituality. I will explore in depth what a transformational and missional church should look like and also analyze the key leadership themes that must be incorporated for these changes to be possible.

Through the course of this, we will delve into these themes as they have impacted my life and spiritual journey. They also act as a road map to guide me as I am beginning to plant a church. This will be equal parts personal process as well as a critique of the present and future state of the Western Church. The journey towards transformation is not an easy one or for the faint of heart. It is much like surviving the zombie apocalypse. You must be smart, savvy, and you cannot accomplish this alone. As you will see, this process hasn’t been easy. There has been much fought for as well as loss. The following pages detail key and signature themes I have learned in this process of survival and change. Prepare yourself because following after our savior is rarely a PG rated affair. It can get bloody. We will begin our journey with the words that Dietrich Bonhoeffer used to speak of his own life. In Letters & Papers from Prison he spoke in these terms,

“My life has followed a straight and unbroken course… if I were to end my life here in these conditions, that would have a meaning that I think I could understand; on the other hand, everything might be a thorough preparation for a new start and a new task when peace comes” (Bonhoeffer Letters & Papers from Prison p. 272).

It is my hope that this will all be a preparation for a new start. Let us begin…